LIGNA HANNOVER 2011, the leading international trade fair for the forestry and wood industries scheduled next year in Hannover from May 30 to June 3, will bring together exhibitors and visitors from around the world to showcase and discover the trends and themes that will define the future of the forestry and wood industries.
Deutsche Messe Board of Management member Stephan Ph. Kühne: “It’s already clear that all the market leaders will be there, a fact that further highlights LIGNA HANNOVER’s status as the number one trade fair for wood and forestry industry technology, processes and products globally. There will be plenty of innovation on show in practically every display category. LIGNA is, after all, the show where the industry leaders unveil their innovations to the world.”
Kühne is confident that LIGNA HANNOVER 2011 will match the exhibitor turnout achieved in 2009 – despite the fact that not all sectors of its target industries have fully recovered from the recession. “We anticipate that some 1,700 exhibitors from around 50 nations will come to Hannover to showcase their products and grow their business.”
More than half of LIGNA exhibitors come from outside Germany. The participating companies use the fair as a platform for presenting their latest developments to a global audience of industry professionals. No other event generates more exposure than LIGNA. More than one third of the show’s visitors come from outside Germany. For instance, LIGNA 2009 attracted 80,000 visitors from 90 nations, 95 % of whom were quality trade visitors with high-level decision-making authority.
LIGNA HANNOVER provides an overview of all technologies along the entire wood value chain, from forestry and timber processing to woodworking. No other platform brings together in one convenient location all the key decision makers from all wood and forestry technology target markets.
In addition to the forestry and forestry technology displays on the open-air site and in the pavilions under the Expo canopy, next year’s LIGNA HANNOVER exhibition program will feature sawmill technology and panel and veneer production technology, solid wood working, furniture production technology, wood-based bioenergy plants, and the Handwerk, Holz & mehr show for carpenters, joiners and cabinetmakers.
LIGNA HANNOVER is all about innovation, new developments, the latest technologies and products, and efficient processes and materials. Its coverage of the entire forestry and wood value chains is unparalleled in the international trade fair sector and is prized by visitors as a highly effective and efficient market research tool.
LIGNA HANNOVER 2011 tackles key themes
Lightweight construction, surface finishing technologies and bioenergy from wood are three high-profile themes at LIGNA HANNOVER 2011.
The lightweight-construction theme area centers around furniture and design. Visitors to next year’s LIGNA show can look forward to a comprehensive showcase of applications and optimized lightweight furniture design solutions.
The second and third days of the fair will see the premiere of the new “Think Light – International Conference on Lightweight Panels.” The conference, organized by Austrian-based Technical Conference Management, Dr. Kurt Fischer KG in association with Deutsche Messe and Germany’s Lightweight Construction Association (igeL), will provide an overview of the current state of the art in lightweight wood panel products. It will feature papers by international experts on a range of topics, including the production, processing and finishing of lightweight wood panels, commercialization options, the physical characteristics of lightweight panels, and acceptance of lightweight furniture among end-consumers.
Lightweight construction themes also feature strongly in the exhibition areas. There, leading companies from the machinery manufacturing and material supply industries will run group displays at LIGNA HANNOVER 2011 themed around the latest lightweight innovations.
The furniture-sector exhibition halls will also feature the current state of the art in industrial surface finishing technologies. Suppliers will be presenting a feast of new machinery and materials that are capable of producing the types of finishes demanded by the latest interior design trends. Visitors will witness the wealth of new design and customization possibilities opened up by new materials and see how new surface finishes can give floors a modern, contemporary look.
LIGNA HANNOVER’s extended coverage of wood-based bioenergy is in keeping with the growing market demand for alternative, renewable energy sources. However, renewable is not the same thing as inexhaustible, so the wood energy sector needs to be highly innovative and efficient if it is to be sustainable. Which is why LIGNA HANNOVER features an array of events that show the way forward to sustainable energy production from wood. The focus is not limited to the residential sector. It also takes in the big energy companies and the increasing number of municipal utilities that are discovering just how much value wood-based energy can add to their business. The wood bioenergy exhibits are complemented by the 3rd International BBE/VDMA Business and Export Forum for Bioenergy, where industry experts will discuss the establishment and development of international bioenergy markets.
One of the big visitor magnets at the upcoming fair will be the conference on “Sustainability in the forestry and wood industries as a key to building an intelligent Europe“ that is being staged as part of the EU’s IN2WOOD project. Held on day one of LIGNA, the conference will explore the latest trends and developments in the utilization of natural wood resources in Europe and internationally. It will also look into ways of expanding international cooperation along the entire forest and wood industry value chain.
In addition, next year’s show will host a comprehensive range of events in connection with the United Nations International Year of Forests.
For many years, LIGNA has featured a wide array of user-centric displays, seminars, and conferences. In this way, the show has made a major contribution to fostering knowledge transfer and networking among industry stakeholders. Deutsche Messe’s close working relationship with exhibitors and the Woodworking Machinery Manufacturers’ Association within the German Engineering Federation (VDMA) ensures that future events will continue to reflect the critical industry issues of the day.
German Woodworking Machinery Manufacturers will focus on Southeast Asia
According to VDMA, total international machinery exports to Southeast Asia fell 47% to 161 million euros in 2009 due to the economic crisis. The biggest markets in the region last year are Malaysia (42 million euros), Vietnam (37 million euros), Indonesia (28 million euros), Thailand (28 million euros), and Singapore (13 million euros).
Germany has a below-average share of these export markets, which are dominated by Japanese and Chinese manufacturers. However, in the first nine months of this year, Germany’s exports to the region rose dramatically to 59 million euros, of which Vietnam accounted for only 4%. German-based manufacturers supplied a number of large-scale plants to Thailand and Indonesia and achieved a several-fold increase in sales to Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam and even Laos.
Mr. Bernhard Dirr, Managing Director of VDMA, said that Vietnam is a potential market for German woodworking machines because the country will develop into a major rival to the established furniture-producing countries of the world in the time to come. He announced that VDMA will organize a German Woodworking Technology roadshow in Binh Duong province, home to furniture manufacturers of Vietnam, in April 2011.
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